06/17/2026
Stop in and browse our 2 tables filled with fun and interesting gifts for Dad!
Father's Day honors fatherhood and paternal bonds. While the Catholic Church has celebrated it on Saint Joseph’s Day since the Middle Ages, the modern US holiday was founded in Spokane, Washington, in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd. She was raised by a widowed Civil War veteran.
A timeline of how the holiday evolved from a localized tribute into an official US holiday:
July 5, 1908: The earliest known event was held in Fairmont, West Virginia. Grace Golden Clayton proposed a church service to honor 362 men who died in the Monongah mining disaster, many of whom were fathers.
June 19, 1910: The first official statewide Father's Day was celebrated in Washington state. Spearheaded by Sonora Smart Dodd, it aimed to create a male equivalent to the newly established Mother's Day.
1924: President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea and urged state governments to observe the holiday, though it was not yet a federal mandate.
1966: President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation establishing the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
1972: President Richard Nixon signed a law making Father's Day a permanent national holiday!
